


The Adventures of the Knope-Wyatt Triple Cherries

by SakuraBlossomStorm



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Family Dynamics, Gen, Humor, Romance, Siblings, parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-08-27 14:23:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 18,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8404969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBlossomStorm/pseuds/SakuraBlossomStorm
Summary: Drabbles focusing around the Knope-Wyatt triplets.





	1. You're Getting Crumbs all Over my Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen really wants to see Sonia's math homework.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've wanted to do more triplet stuff recently so here we go!
> 
> First three chapters were prompts sent by supervanillabear31 on tumblr! Enjoy!

“Can I borrow your math homework?” Stephen asked as he walked into Sonia’s room munching on a slice of toast, “I want check something.”

Sonia snorted loudly, “I’m not falling for that one…again.”

“No I’m serious.” Stephen said as he sat down on her bed and stretched out on it, “I need to check something.”

Sonia turned from her desk, “I was born yesterday Stephen. You didn’t do the homework. That’s not my problem. Go and ask Wesley.”

“Wesley told me to eat a dick.”

“Remind me to congratulate Wesley later for actually growing a backbone and standing up to you.”

“Come on Sunny.” Stephen whined as he sat up, “Let me copy from you? You’re my favourite triplet after all.”

She rolled her eyes and tied her blonde hair back, “No! And get off, you’re getting crumbs all over my bed.”

Stephen seized opportunity; “I’ll stop getting crumbs on your bed if you give me your math homework.”

“What? No deal! Seriously get up I just changed the sheet.”

Stephen shook a finger at Sonia, “Homework please.”

“I’m not going to give it to you! You’re a fucking pain, Stephen. How about for once in your life you stop scrounging off of me and Wesley and actually –”

She cut off abruptly when Stephen started picking tiny bits of toast off and started sprinkling them in her bed.

“ASSHOLE” She screamed and tackled her brother off the bed and onto the floor, tugging at his hair and smacking him in the face.

“OW! You bitchface!”

“Douchebag!”

“BUTT SLUG!”

“What the hell is going on?” Wesley’s voice appeared at the door, causing the two to look at up him. Stephen currently had the ends of Sonia’s ponytail gripped in his hands and Sonia’s elbow was lodged in his ribcage.

“Is this about the math homework? Good lord, Stephen. Just copy it from me if you’re so fucking desperate.”

Stephen let go of Sonia and stuck his tongue out at her as he walked out of the room. Sonia scowled at Wesley.

“I take back wanting to congratulate you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on tumblr and send me your own prompts!


	2. Welcome to Fatherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley and his newborn daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another prompt by supervanillabear31! enjoy!

Wesley took a deep breath in and out again, fogging up the glass in front of him, he hadn’t taken his eyes off for a second and he’d never look anywhere else ever again.

Because she was in front of him, his tiny baby girl. She came into this world a mere few hours ago. She was two days late but he didn’t care, she clearly just loved being all warm and cosy in her mommy’s tummy.

Baby Sophia Leslie Knope-Wyatt was a true gift. Wesley had never felt so overcome with love and emotion when she was brought into this world. His wife, Andrea, had worked so hard and dealt with the excruciating pain. He’d forever be in her debt.

Sophia was resting in the nursery in the hospital, giving Andrea a chance to get some well-earned rest. He kissed her forehead and told her he’d keep an eye on their baby girl. 

As excited as he was, there was still this horrible niggling feeling of nerves in his stomach, was he cut out for this? Sometimes he’d misplace his glasses and spend hours looking for them without realising he’d been wearing them all along. Could he really raise a human? He was just about coping with himself.

A hand tapped Wesley’s shoulder and he turned around, a relieved smile spread over his face.

“Dad” He exhaled, so incredibly happy that his father was standing in front of him.

“Congratulations” Ben said with a warm smile, the wrinkles around his eyes creasing, “where’s my granddaughter?”

Wesley beckoned Ben in closer and pointed to the tiny pink-blanketed bundle in front of them, “There. She’s beautiful, dad. She looks just like Andrea.”

Ben nodded in agreement, “She does. She has her nose. But she looks a lot like you too, you can tell around the eyes.”

“Where’s mom?” Wesley asked, noticing that Ben had come alone.

“She’s gone to see Andrea first, she wanted to give her some advice…she made a binder.”

Wesley smirked, “of course she did.”

The older man rested his hand on Wesley’s shoulder, “How are you doing? Scared?”

Wesley took a shaky breath in. “Terrified. Is this how you felt? It’s weird I’m so excited she’s here but…so much could go wrong. She could get hurt or sick or –”

Ben’s hand moved up to his son’s cheek. “Everything will be fine. You’ve got this all under control. You’re a smart man, this kid will have two of the best parents this world has to offer and dare I say it the best grandparents.”

“Yeah Andrea’s parents are pretty great.” Wesley joked, earning him a gentle shove from Ben, he then softened and gave his son a warm hug.

“I’m so proud of you, Wes. Welcome to fatherhood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on tumblr: sakurablossomstorm-blog


	3. Stop Being So Cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Sonia at a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another prompt from the awesome supervanillabear31! Enjoy!

“So you know our parents are basically gagging for us to get together right?” Sonia said as she sipped her beer.

Oliver spluttered, “What? Really? I had no idea.”

Sonia smirked and rolled her eyes, “Oh Oliver, stop being so cute. You totally knew.”

“I just thought they really wanted us to be friends. But really? They want us to get together? Have they not cornered on that you’re…y’know… a lesbian?”

“I’m not a lesbian” Sonia snapped, “I’m _experimenting_.” 

“Ok, ok. Sorry. Well do they know you’re experimenting?”

Sonia shrugged, “I think they have an idea. I have Stephen to thank for blabbing to Wesley that I kissed Natalia at that party last week.”

“So who’s a better kisser? Guys or girls.”

Sonia cheekily cocked her head to the side, the fumes of her beer spreading to her head, “Why do you ask? Have you never kissed a girl before?”

“I have so! I’m 16.”

“You’re 16 and naïve as fuck.” Sonia chided, pressing her finger into Oliver’s chest, “But fine. I prefer guys. Girls taste great and everything but when they were lipstick it gets a little sticky.”

“I like that feeling.” Oliver admitted bashfully, taking a long gulp of beer to tend his dry throat.

“I haven’t kissed a guy in a while actually.” Sonia mumbled, taking a step closer.

“Is that a hint?” Oliver asked, that beer raising his confidence.

“Kind of” Sonia purred as she stood on her tippy toes and pressed her lips against Oliver’s.

There were several cat calls of ‘GET IT, OLIVER’ and ‘SUCK HIS DICK, SONIA’ but they were oblivious to them all, because all that mattered right now was the fact that two childhood friends were now wrapped in each others arms, feeling each others warmth.

They pulled apart, Oliver licking Sonia’s strawberry lip-gloss from his lips.

“So this will make our parents _very_ happy.”

“Whatever, I’m still experimenting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on tumblr: @sakurablossomstorm-blog


	4. You Switched our Pillows, Savage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen causes his siblings some unwanted grief in the night.

Wesley rolled around in his bed angrily. He had been tossing and turning for hours now and sleep was clearly not going to be visiting him tonight. 

He sat up with an angry grunt and grabbed at his pillow, trying to fluff it up and make it a tiny bit more comfortable. That’s when he noticed it.

The small yellow stain on it, it was recognisable even in the dark of the night. The yellow stain that was left after Stephen ate too much candy before bed and barfed it all up.

This wasn’t his pillow.

Wesley grabbed it and stormed down the hall into Stephen’s room, his brother was still up and playing video games despite it being nearly 2am.

“You switched our pillows, savage!” Wesley hissed, tossing the pillow into Stephen face, it hit its target and Stephen let out a surprised yelp.

“I didn’t think you’d find out.” Stephen smirked, throwing the pillow back to Wesley.

“I don’t want this!” Wesley snapped, dropping the pillow immediately. “I don’t want your vomit coloured pillow that you’ve had since you were six! I want my nice comfy pillow and I want to go to bed.”

“Oh my god if you are going to cry about it, take it! It’s not worth your sissy tears.” Stephen quipped, nodding over to his bed.

Wesley stormed over and grabbed his pillow, “I’m not going to cry.” Wesley mumbled under his breath as he stormed out of Stephen room, nearly walking into Sonia in the hallway.

“What the hell are you doing with my pillow?” Sonia shrieked, pointing to the pillow that Wesley was holding.

“ _Your_ pillow?” Wesley growled, trying to hide the pillow behind his back, but Sonia was too fast for him and snatched it out of his grasp.

“This is mine! Why did you swap our pillows?” Sonia snapped, prodding Wesley in the chest.

“I didn’t swap them, Stephen di- OW!” Wesley cried out as Sonia smacked him around the face with his own pillow.

“Likely story, take your shitty lumpy pillow back and give me my nice fluffy one.” Sonia barked.

Wesley was now very much awake and very tired of this shit, he took a swing and hit Sonia around the back with her pillow; it soon resulted in a tousle in the middle of the hallway with Sonia sitting on Wesley’s front and Wesley trying to pull her hair.

Stephen sat in his room snickering to himself, his work tonight was done.

“What’s going on out there?” The unmistakable voice of their mom rang out.

“Crap!” Stephen swore and turned the TV off and jumped into bed, pulling the covers right over his head.


	5. You gave me a black eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley accidentally injures his brother

“You gave me a black eye!” Stephen screamed hysterically, “dude what the hell?”

“No I didn’t!” Wesley cried out, panicked. “It’s… just a little red!”

It was an accident of course; Stephen was hiding behind Wesley’s bedroom door waiting for his brother to come in to scare him. Once Wesley walked in Stephen jumped out with a loud shriek, causing Wesley to jump and punch Stephen in the face as a reflex.

Stephen clutched the side of his face around his eye, howling in pain angrily, “I’ll get you for this!” 

“This was your fault!” Wesley snapped back.

“What is going on in here?” A stern voice called from down the hall, Wesley and Stephen both winced and turned around to see Ben standing in the doorway with his arms folded.

“Good lord, Stephen, what happened to your face?” Ben asked, a look of concern mixed with annoyance etched on his face.

“Wesley punched me!” Stephen called out, pointing angrily at his brother.

“Because he hid behind my door and jumped out at me!” Wesley retaliated.

“There was no need to punch me though!”

“I didn’t mean to! It was a reflex I told you!”

“Enough!” Ben snapped, causing the two boys to immediately shut up, “Stephen, go downstairs and get some ice on that.” 

Stephen sulked out of the room, barging past Ben and muttering angrily to himself, Wesley tried to follow but Ben blocked his way.

“Not you, what’s going on Wes? You seem so jumpy recently.” Ben said, the expression on his face softening.

“I’m fine.” Wesley snapped, “I could just do without Stephen being a moron and scaring me all the time.”

Ben sighed, “well he’ll learn a lesson from this I’ll give you that, but is that it? There’s nothing else bothering you?”

Wesley looked down at his feet and shuffled them around anxiously. “They like to pick on me.”

“They?”

“Sonia and Stephen.” Wesley mumbled, “they like to pull pranks on me a lot, Sonia swapped the sugar for salt the other day and I put salt on my pancakes, they both put the remains of the frog we had to dissect in biology in my locker at school and now this. Its annoying, dad. I hate it, I feel like the joke of the family.”

Ben immediately pulled his youngest by a few seconds into his arms for a hug. “You aren’t the joke of the family, Wes. You get the best grades, you’re hands down the smartest. And the sweetest too, everyone in the family says so. Even LC has a bit of a soft spot for you –”

“Dad, she’s two years younger than me!”

“I’m just saying don’t sell yourself short. Sure you’re siblings like to play around and tease you, just don’t let them get to you. Uncle Henry and Aunt Steph used to tease me all the time, and I just used to ignore it. They’ll get bored of it, plus Stephen will be careful from now on after that shiner you’ve probably given him.” Ben said, trying his hardest not to grin considering his eldest son was downstairs nursing a potential black eye.

“I’m sorry.” Wesley muffled into Ben’s shoulder.

“It’s ok, buddy.” Ben said kindly as he rubbed his son’s back. “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I accidentally broke Uncle Andy’s nose?”


	6. "Could you hold my hand?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley has an appointment with the optometrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A great prompt sent by supervanillabear31!

“Alright, receptionist says we’re next.” Ben said as he took an empty seat next to his son.

They were in the waiting room, ready for Wesley’s appointment with the optometrist. His glasses-wearing son shifted nervously in his seat and Ben patted his shoulder.

“You okay, buddy?” Ben asked and Wesley quickly nodded without saying a word.

Ben could tell his youngest was nervous. The annual appointments to have his eyes checked weren’t great and they always made Wesley nervous, even though he knew what he was in for. The doctor would ask Wesley to hold a piece of card over his eyes and read from letters in the distance. Then he’d have to place his head in some sort of contraption and hold very still while the doctor examined his eyes.

It didn’t cause him any pain or discomfort, but it did cause him a lot of anxiety. He was the only one in his family who wore glasses all the time, they had spoken about contacts but they wanted to wait until he was a little older and could maintain them himself. Their twelve year old still relied on his parents for practically everything.

Ben had hoped things would get easier after he himself had been prescribed with reading glasses, it did for a while, Wesley seemed more attached to him and could talk to him about their glasses. But Ben didn’t wear them all the time like him.

Ben gently nudged his son, who was reading something on his Gryzzl tablet. “Hey, it’s ok to be nervous, you know? But nothing will happen, it’s just a routine check that you have to do to make sure those glasses are still ok for your eyes.”

“I know I…” Wesley trailed off and bit his lip. “I just don’t like it ok? They always tell me to hold still and they shine these really bright lights into my eyes and…why does it have to be me? Why can’t it have been Stephen or Sonia?”

“It makes you special” Ben said quickly, wrapping his arm around his son. “Glasses are cool, sure they take time to get used to but you’ve been wearing them all your life. Plus Stephen or Sonia don’t get taken out of school early for their appointment, and they most definitely don’t get taken out for lunch afterwards.

That made Wesley smile a little. “Really? We’re going out after?”

“If you want?” Ben said, “We can go to that place that does those amazing calzones?”

Wesley nodded vigorously, “Y-yeah that sounds cool...but, Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you hold my hand…y’know…when we get in there?” Wesley asked shyly.

Ben felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes and he quickly blinked them away. His children were old enough to not want to hold their parents hands anymore, but Wesley was so anxious about the whole thing he just wanted to feel some comfort from Ben.

“Sure, buddy.” Ben said, rubbing his hand on Wesley’s shoulder. “It’s going to be ok though, you know that right?”

Wesley just silently nodded.


	7. 'Take a deep breath.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben comforts a distraught Sonia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another prompt sent in by supervanillabear31, thanks!

“Sonia, why did you do that?”

The little girl shifted on the balls of her feet and looked at her hands, refusing to look up at Ben.

“Sonia, I asked you a question,” Ben said sternly.

“I…” That’s all Sonia managed to choke out before promptly bursting into tears, she brought her hands up and balled them into fists as she sobbed loudly.

And in that moment, Ben decided he couldn’t be mad at his daughter anymore. His heart sagged miserably at the sound of Sonia crying and he bent down to her level.

“Hey, hey, honey. Don’t cry” Ben soothed as he pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, Sonny, please don’t cry.”

“I…I didn’t m-mean to” Sonia whimpered as tears stained Ben’s shirt.

“I know you didn’t sweetheart,” Ben cooed as he rubbed her tiny back.

“B-but Daddy’s mad at me” Sonia whined as she continued to cry.

“No, not at all, I’m not mad at you. Promise” Ben told her. “I just want to know why you did that? Mommy’s upset too.”

“I…I” Sonia tried to get out but was overcome with more tears. Ben pulled her away to look at her face, and wiped away the tears running down her red cheeks.

“Come on. Take a deep breath,” he told her, and Sonia managed to choke back her tears enough to take a long, ragged breath.

“Good girl. I’m not mad at you, okay? Just promise that you won’t do it again,” Ben said as he stroked Sonia’s long blonde hair.

“I-I won’t” Sonia said, nodding profusely. And Ben placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Alright, good girl. Go on, go and play with your brothers” He said, ushering her out of the room, and Sonia sniffed back the last of her tears and ran out of the room.

“So what happened?” Leslie asked, hurrying into the bedroom after Sonia had left.

“It’s fine” Ben said. “She got all upset so…y’know I just hugged her and told her we weren’t mad.”

“We _weren’t_ mad! Ben, are you kidding me? She flushed my phone down the toilet! My phone that had all my work emails on, I can’t get another replacement for a week, how am I meant to read work emails on the way to work when I don’t have my computer?” Leslie snapped loudly.

Ben found himself taking a step backwards. “I’m sorry, but she just looked so adorable when she was crying and it really upset me seeing her like this and…”

He trailed off when he noticed Leslie’s nostrils flaring.

“You are too soft on her” she accused angrily before storming off down the hall.

Ben knew she was right, he was too soft on her, but it was hard not to be. She was his only daughter, and he naturally had a soft spot for her.

And she also had him wrapped around her little finger and knew how to play him like a fiddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have an idea or a prompt you would like to send me, come over to my tumblr: Sakurablossomstorm-blog. My ask box is always open :)


	8. "Can I have this dance"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben is invited to a tea party with Sonia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to benjis-cool-times for the prompt!

Ben couldn’t help but smile as he stood in the doorway to Sonia’s bedroom and watched her as she played with her toys.

His little girl was now four and starting to have an interest in things that her brothers. She suddenly had interests in hiding away in her room and hosting tea parties for her dolls. 

Sometimes Leslie was invited, sometimes Ben was invited. She always made adorable handwritten notes and gave them to her parents on Sundays, telling them to come to her bedroom and to bring snacks.

Ben was pretty sure that she was just inviting them to get her hands on a few extra cookies, but he had to admit it was pretty cute.

Today it was his turn to attend one of Sonia’s elite tea parties. And he watched her puttering around the bedroom, sitting the dolls around in a circle with plastic cutlery and plates already laid out.

“Are you ready for me, Sonny?” he asked as he stepped into her bedroom, his heart swelling in adoration as Sonia turned around and beamed at him.

“Daddy! Right on time! Did you bring everything?” Sonia asked hopefully.

Ben looked at the items in my hands. “Let’s see, I have a pack of cookies, as requested. And also my Gryzzl tablet, why do you need this?”

“For dancing” Sonia announced. “We will be dancing at this tea party!”

Ben hated dancing, but for his daughter he would gladly have her stand on his feet and sway around her room to the sounds of Freddy Spaghetti.

He grinned and put the Gryzzl tablet on the side and opened up Freddy Spaghetti’s most recent album and pressed play. The sounds of that annoying strawberry blonde haired man filled the room and Ben smirked as he saw Sonia swinging her arms around energetically.

“Milady, may I have this dance?” Ben asked, bowing and stretching his hand out.

Sonia giggled and took his hand, and carefully stood on top of Ben’s feet and wrapped her tiny arms around his waist. 

Ben held her close as to not let her slip off and moved her around to the beat of ‘Penne one more time’. Sonia was tight in his grasp singing along and squeezing Ben as hard as she could.

He heard a clicking noise in the doorway and turned to see Leslie standing there holding her own Gryzzl tablet, snapping pictures of the scene. 

“You two are just so adorable” Leslie exclaimed as she took more photos.

“Mommy! This dance party is invitation only!” Sonia cried out, noticing her presence.

“I’m sorry!” Leslie replied, taking one more photo and closing the door, leaving Ben and Sonia to dance in peace.


	9. We're a Red Vines Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Leslie wants is to eat her red vines in peace!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's an adorable video floating around at the moment of a Mother hiding in a pantry just so she can eat candy and not have her kids take it from her. When I saw it I immediately thought that Leslie would probably do something like this - so here we go! 
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day!

Ben was replying to an email on his computer when his phone started vibrating. He looked down at it to see a video call incoming from Leslie.

He frowned. Leslie never usually video called him at work, if she needed him she called him. Trying not to look too much into it and assuming she must be calling him by mistake (which she has done, multiple times. She once fell asleep on her phone when she was pregnant and someone managed to dial Ben’s number and he answered the phone to her snoring.)

“Ben, you have to help me,” Leslie gasped out, looking frantic and bedraggled.

“Leslie? Are you okay? What’s going on?...is that a red vine?” Ben asked, raising his eyebrow at the red candy that Leslie was chewing.

Leslie nodded and carried on chewing.

“And where are you? Are you in the coat closet?” Ben asked, noting the winter coats behind Leslie’s head.

“Yeah. They won’t leave me alone,” Leslie said as she swallowed her mouthful.

“They?” Ben questioned, then it all clicked. “Oh, the kids?”

Leslie nodded and erratically ripped another chunk off the red vine in her hands, grinding it between her teeth. “All I wanted was some candy, just to keep my blood sugar up, and they wouldn’t leave me along. They want everything that I have.”

Ben frowned. “You know if you had some fruit instead maybe they wouldn’t be trying to take your candy?”

“No don’t be ridiculous” Leslie snapped. “But now I’m stuck. Look.”

She took the phone away from her face and lowered it down to the crack under the door. And there, lined up in a row, were three faces peering through the gap.

“They’ve been out there since I got in here two minutes ago” Leslie told Ben, as he clapped a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. This had to be the strangest but cutest call he had received at work, ever.

“You know” Ben said smirking. “You did get them into red vines. Maybe we wouldn’t have this trouble if they liked twizzlers inste-.”

“Don’t finish that sentence, we’re a red vines family, let it go” Leslie ordered and then winced as there was an excited shriek from behind the door.

“RED VINES? MOMMY’S GOT RED VINES.”

Leslie let out a silent cry and her mouth fell open. “They’re going to kill me, Ben!” 

And with that, she hung up, as Ben finally was overcome with laughter at his adorable family.


	10. Cuddle Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie and Ben cuddle with baby Wesley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just needed to write some cuddly triplet stuff today, enjoy!

“He’s doing really well,” Jenny, the nurse at the NICU ward announced as she carefully lifted Wesley from his hospital crib and handed the newborn over to Leslie. “We weighed him this morning and he’s put on five ounces since last time.”

Leslie happily accepted the baby, cuddling Wesley into her chest and kissing the top of his head. Ben was next to her, sat in a plastic chair while Leslie still resided in her wheelchair. It had been four days since her caesarean and while nurses encouraged her to do some amount of walking every day, it was easier to get her upstairs to the NICU in a wheelchair. 

She hated it and whined every time Ben helped her get settled in it (“I’m fine, Ben. I just gave birth to triplets, I think I can handle climbing a few flights of stairs.”) Ben would just smirk and insist that he wanted to look after her, so the wheelchair was a must.

“I’ll leave you three alone,” Jenny said, giving Leslie a soft smile. Jenny was a great nurse. No one would ever come great to the amazing Ann Perkins, but Jenny would do. She was so attentive to their babies and while Stephen and Sonia were both healthy and moved to the nursery two days ago, Wesley had to stay behind. He was their smallest baby, and wasn’t breathing when he came out, resulting in several tests being run and their poor youngest being hooked up to several tubes and monitors.

But he was getting better, and gaining weight like he should be. And for that she couldn’t thank the nurses enough.

“Did you hear that?” Leslie whispered to the infant against her chest. “Five ounces! You’re turning into a little fat chunk monster.”

Ben grinned and rubbed Wesley's back. “Don’t listen to your Mother, you’re not fat.”

“I mean it affectionately” Leslie insisted, taking in that wonderful newborn scent her three babies all seemed to share. She just had cuddles with Stephen and Sonia not too long ago, and now her time was reserved with Wesley.

She looked over at Ben and smiled. He had been amazing during all this too. So attentive and perfect during her stay at the hospital. He only went home to pick up necessities for them both or to shower, and slept in an uncomfortable chair in the corner of the room every night so that Leslie wouldn’t be lonely. She was sure he hadn’t had a good nights sleep in days, and kept telling him to share her bed, but he refused. He wanted her to have all the comfort and space; he’d cope on that chair for a few more nights.

She noticed he hadn’t shaved in a while either. His usual neat and tidy stubble now turning into a scruffy beard.

“Your beard’s getting long,” she said, looking at the dark hairs.

Ben grinned and rubbed his chin. “I don’t mind. To be honest shaving has probably been the last thing I’ve thought about.”

His eyes dropped down and looked at Wesley. Leslie knew that look. Since they had been able to hold Wesley she had been hogging him a little. Ben understood that she had first dibs on cuddles, but that look of longing of wanting to touch their youngest was so overpowering.

“Here” Leslie said, shifting Wesley from her chest, and carefully passing him over to Ben. “It’s your turn.”

Ben’s eyes lit up as Wesley curled up instinctively against his chest, and yawning adorably as Ben’s hands supported the tiny baby.

“Hi, Wes,” he whispered to the baby, as Wesley cooed softly against his shirt. “We can’t wait to finally get you and your brother and sister home.”

The doctors and nurses had said that they should stay at the hospital for a week while Leslie recovered and they made sure the babies were healthy enough. Ben was grateful they had the time here and the support, but he really couldn’t wait to get his family home.

He looked up, his eyes meeting Leslie’s. She had this beautiful new mother glow around her that made his heart beat twice the usual speed. She never failed to make him breathless and marvel in her strength. He would never gather how she managed to get by eight months of carrying triplets, then having to go through surgery and still come out smiling at the end of it.

“I love you” Ben whispered, as Wesley slept against his chest.

Leslie beamed at him, and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. “I love you too.”


	11. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben comforts Stephen when he has a nightmare.

Ben woke to the sound of a whimper coming from down the hall, it was so quiet that he almost missed it, but ever since having the triplets he had grown supersonic hearing. He could hear every sound from their triplets, which usually worked to his advantage if they were misbehaving.

But now he could hear the crying sound, and knew that something wasn’t right. He swung his legs over the sound of the bed and looked over at Leslie. She was dead to the world. She could easily sleep for 5 hours a night or less, but once she was out she wasn’t getting up for anyone.

He rubbed his bleary eyes and walked down the hall to where his boys shared a room, Sonia’s room was close by but from the sounds of it, the sound was coming from Stephen and Wesley’s room.

He assumed it was Wesley. His son was always waking up with night terrors about monsters under the bed or evil witches or vampires hiding outside his room to get him. However, Ben was surprised to see Wesley still fast asleep, his tiny body starfished out on the mattress, and the noise was coming from Stephen’s bed.

Stephen was curled up by his pillow, clutching it to his chest as he whimpered.

“Stephen?” Ben whispered, walking towards the bed.

“D-daddy?” Stephen managed to choke out, Ben could see his eyes were red and tears streamed down his face.

“Ssh. It’s ok” Ben said, quickly sitting down on the mattress and pulling his eldest son into a warm hug. “You had a nightmare, that’s all. Tell me what it was about so I can fix it.”

“It…” Stephen choked back another sob. “Y-you and Mommy weren’t there anymore and…and… neither was Sonny or Wes…I w-was all alone and I…I didn’t like it.”

Ben rubbed Stephen back as he cried against his chest. “It’s ok, buddy. We’re all here, don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere. It was just a bad dream, you’re going to go back to sleep and when you wake up it will be Sunday, and you know what that means? Breakfast at JJ’s, whaaaat?” Ben said playfully to try and cheer his son up.

“I’m not going back to sleep” Stephen sobbed. “Never, ever.”

“Daddy?”

Good lord will this night never end?

Ben looked up and saw Wesley sitting up, his hair sticking up and one eye open.

“What’s happening?”

“It’s fine, Wes. Stephen just had a nightmare. Go back to sleep” Ben explained, hoping that he would fall straight back to sleep.

Wesley blinked, and then climbed out of bed himself. Ben was about to object, but Wesley scurried over, climbing into Stephen’s bed with him.

“If I sleep here, then the monsters won’t be able to get Stevie” Wesley explained.

Ben’s heart nearly burst out of love. Stephen looked at his brother and then clambered off of Ben’s lap and back into his bed, next to Wesley.

“If there’s two of us then the monster won’t be able to take us” Wesley said as Stephen curled up next to him.

“Is that ok with you, Stevie?” Ben asked, and Stephen nodded.

“Y-yeah. I want Wesley to sleep in my bed.”

Ben rubbed his son’s head. “Alright. I’m right down the hall remember?”

He leaned down and kissed his sons on the top of their heads and then walked back out of the room. He paused at the doorway, watching as Stephen and Wesley drifted back off to sleep, sharing the same pillow.

He couldn’t quite express the love that he felt in this moment. His two sons, who usually fought non-stop, were now curled up against each other, fast asleep.

He wiped at his own eyes, and trudged back down the hall to get some sleep himself.


	12. "I lost our child"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and the triplets play hide and seek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt sent in by PawneeWafflesBen.

“48, 49, 50! Ready or not here I come!” 

Leslie heard Ben’s voice echo throughout the house and she smiled sadly. It was a Saturday but instead of playing with the triplets, she was working. Going over paperwork for her transfer to Interior was a tiresome task, and one she was willing to do. It just meant spending some time away from her family.

Ben was currently downstairs, playing a game of hide and seek with the triplets, she could hear tiny footsteps all around the house as they tried to find a place to hide. They would never be able to win though, Ben was too good at finding them, and the triplets weren’t exactly the best hiders. Stephen’s usual hiding place was behind the standing lamp in the lounge.

The door to their office pushed open, and Leslie turned around to see Wesley sprint in. He ducked behind a cabinet in her office; seemingly unaware that Leslie was even in the room.

That hurt a little, not even being acknowledged that she was here. Was he mad that she wasn’t spending her weekend playing with them like Ben was? She sighed and looked back at her laptop, trying to push those thoughts far from her mind, they knew she was busy and working hard, they understood, right?

“Stevie, I found you! You know you should try and hide somewhere else besides from behind the lamp.”

Leslie smirked as she heard Ben’s voice, not too long after he found Stephen, he found Sonia, and the three were now hunting for Wesley.

There was a soft knock on the door and it slowly opened to reveal Ben standing there, with Stephen and Sonia peering from behind his legs.

“Hi” Ben said, leaning against the doorframe. “I have a problem.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Leslie asked, turning in her seat.

“I lost our child” Ben said, with a soft smirk on his face, he was playing along with the triplets.

Leslie frowned and looked to the two children who were stifling giggled around Ben’s legs. “Hmm. Well you couldn’t have lost Stephen, because he’s there. And Sonia is right there, so she can’t be lost.”

She hummed again, making a big show of trying to act confused, “who can it be, I wonder?”

“I don’t know” Ben said, joining in. “But he’s a very good hider.”

“Oh, the best” Leslie agreed, quietly standing up and creeping over to the cabinet. “But not good enough!” She exclaimed as she jumped behind it, causing Wesley to shriek and crawl out from the other end.

“Found you!” Ben announced proudly. “Well done, Wes. You’re such a good hider.”

“My turn!” Stephen said. “I want to find you now.”

Ben broke free from the triplets and walked over to Leslie, pulling her into a hug and kissing her softly.

“Come play with us” he said, he didn’t sound angry or upset, just concerned. 

Concerned that she was working too hard, and needed a break.

Leslie was about to protest, saying that she was so close to finishing, but her triplets looked up at her with big eyes, and she couldn’t say no.

“Okay” Leslie said, nuzzling into Ben’s touch. 

“All right, Stevie” Ben called over his shoulder. “What’s the highest you can count to, buddy?”

“Twenty!” Stephen announced proudly. “I count to twenty and you hide!”

“That doesn’t give us much time,” Ben mumbled, and the four scurried out of the office, leaving Stephen alone and counting out loud with his hands over his eyes.


	13. "Why do you only kiss me when I'm sleeping"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie just wants to kiss her children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt sent in by PawneeWafflesBen

Leslie peered into Wesley’s room, watching him sleep from the doorway. She smiled softly and carefully crept into his room.

She didn’t really understand where the time went, but their babies were now approaching twelve years of age. It was amazing and scary at the same time.

Only her babies weren’t babies anymore. They no longer held her hand when they crossed busy roads, they didn’t need her to cut up their dinner into small bite sized pieces and they didn’t need to be tucked in anymore.

The thing that hurt the most was that when she tried to kiss her children, they pushed her away. Told her that it wasn’t cool to have their mother kissing them in front of their friends. That hurt the most.

She remembered when Stephen snapped at her in public after she kissed his cheek when she picked him up from school. She cried in Ben’s arms that evening that their babies were drifting away. 

Now, she snuck into their rooms at night, when they were fast asleep and would carefully kiss their foreheads, just to remind them that she loved them. She had visited Stephen and Sonia’s room and Wesley was her last stop for the evening.

She watched her youngest sleep for a moment, his wild brown hair that he got from his father sticking up at all angles, his tiny nose that he got from her twitching in his sleep. 

She slowly leaned in, kissing Wesley in the middle of his forehead on a spot where his hair wasn’t covering, and pulled away. She was about to leave when she heard Wesley stir.

“How come you only kiss me when I’m sleeping?” He asked groggily, slowly peeling his eyes back to get a better look at his mother.

Leslie was a little surprised he had noticed her; she was being extra sneaky tonight. 

She leaned against the doorframe and smiled softly. “I don’t want to embarrass you,” she whispered.

Wesley smirked and sat up a little. “You’ll never embarrass me, Mom. I love you, I don’t care if you kiss me in public, Stephen’s a jerk for making you upset about that.”

Leslie was about to open her mouth to scold him for calling Stephen a jerk, but hey, he hit the nail on the head really.

“Thank you, honey” Leslie said. She couldn’t help herself. She found herself walking back into Wesley room and over to him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

Wesley grinned and snuggled back down into his pillow. “I love you, Mom,” he mumbled sleepily.

Leslie smiled over her shoulder. “I love you too” she murmured back.


	14. Leslie & Sonia's sick day.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben takes care of Sonia and Leslie when they both get sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fresh from my hotel room!
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.

_2029_

“I’m the Governor of Indiana, Ben. I shouldn’t be tucked up in bed, I should be saving America.”

Ben rolled his eyes and chuckled, adjusting the covers around her. He’d usually believe that she was fine, but her voice was croaky and her nose blocked.

“You’re sick, honey. Everyone gets sick. Even Governors,” Ben reminded her. “Your advisors can handle anything that happens today, just get some rest and you will be back in action tomorrow.” 

He kissed her overly warm forehead and Leslie grumbled under his touch.

“I’ll be back at lunch to check on you, okay?” Ben said sweetly, as Leslie lay back down into the pillows.

“Alright, I love you.”

“I love you too, babe. Feel better,” Ben said as he waved goodbye and walked out of their bedroom.

He had been in the office for two hours when his cell phone started buzzing. Sonia’s number flashing up on the screen. He frowned; his 15 year old daughter had her phone for emergencies only and shouldn’t be using it at school.

“Hello?” Ben said into the receiver.

“Daddy? It’s me.”

Ben was immediately concerned. Sonia only called him daddy either when she wanted something or if she was sick. 

Knowing that she probably wasn’t calling him to ask for a ride to the movies, it was probably the latter.

“Sonia? What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

“No,” Sonia sniffled into the phone. “I’m sick. I barfed in the bathroom. The school nurse said I could call you to pick me up.”

“Oh, honey,” Ben said sadly. Leslie’s flu must have spread across their family, affecting their only daughter.

He looked at clock; he wasn’t too busy today and could easily be at the school in twenty minutes to get her.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes, can you hang in there?” Ben asked.

“Uh huh,” Sonia mumbled. “Please don’t be long.”

“I won’t. Twenty minutes, maybe fifteen, promise.”

~~

Ben kept to his promise and got to the school in record time, soon finding Sonia looking forlorn in the nurse’s office.

He felt her forehead and she felt exactly how Leslie had felt this morning. Clammy and extremely warm. 

Ben smiled sympathetically at his daughter. “Come on, let’s get you home and into bed.”

Sonia nodded in agreement and Ben took her schoolbag in one hand, the other taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

It was a short trip back to the car. Ben wished that he had brought a bucket or something with him as he looked at Sonia, who was turning a pale green.

“Are you going to puke?” Ben asked as he helped Sonia into the passenger seat.

Sonia shook her head. “I’m good… I think.”

Ben climbed into his own seat and started the car. “Ok. Let me know if you are going to be sick, though.”

Sonia nodded and Ben started the car. Ten minutes later Sonia began whimpering and Ben immediately pulled over to the curb where she threw the door open and hurled her guts out on the pavement.

Ben grimaced and reached over, rubbing her back. “We’re nearly there sweetheart. Hang in there.”

All Sonia could do was sniff back tears as she closed the door and crumpled into the seat.

~~

“What are you doing here?” Leslie asked as Sonia and Ben walked into the bedroom, sitting up, immediately shoving her work binders to the floor so Ben wouldn’t see.

“She got the flu,” Ben said, eyeing the binders on the floor. “I think she wants her mommy.”

“Oh, Sonny, sweetie,” Leslie sighed as she pulled back the covers on Ben’s side. “Get your jammies on and come here.”

Sonia nodded and Ben went into her room, finding her comfiest pyjamas and handing them to her.

Ben looked at his watch. 10:30. There wasn’t that much point of going back to the office to come back a few hours later to cook his girls lunch. He might as well work from home and head back into the office after lunch.

“I’ll be downstairs if you need me,” Ben said as he put a bucket down by where Sonia would be sleeping and left to give Sonia privacy to change.

A few minutes later, he was called back upstairs after a vomit chain reaction of Leslie hurrying into the bathroom to puke which caused Sonia to grab the bucket and hurl into it. 

~~

Lunchtime finally hit and Ben was relieved to find that he had not been called upstairs in a long time and hoped that Sonia and Leslie would have finally found some peace in their illness.

He took the steps two at a time and pushed the bedroom door open.

His heart almost burst at the sight in front of him.

Leslie and Sonia were snuggled up in each other’s arms. Leslie’s head on top of Sonia’s and they were both sounds asleep. The TV playing some sort of terrible soap opera in the background.

Ben smiled. Sonia was just like Leslie, looked like her and acted just like her. But when it came to getting sick, she was just like Ben. All she wanted was to cuddle with her parents and be looked after, even though she was 15 and most definitely finding her independence.

He leaned in, kissing Sonia’s forehead first and then moving on to Leslie. She stirred at the feel of his lips and opened one bleary eye to look at him.

“Hey, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?” Ben asked, stroking her hair.

“Okay, I guess,” Leslie replied and then looked down at Sonia, who was still fast asleep. 

“How is she doing?”

“Still warm,” Ben said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I think she’ll be off school tomorrow too. But at least she’s stopped being sick.”

At that, Sonia wiggled in Leslie’s grasp and shifted, opening her eyes.

“Hey, kiddo,” Ben said sweetly, pushing the blonde hair out of her face. “How do you feel?”

“I’m alive, I guess that’s a positive,” Sonia grunted, nuzzling closer to Leslie, who kissed the top of her head.

Ben reached out and rubbed her clammy arm. “Do you both feel like eating? I can make some chicken soup for you?”

The two ladies instantly perked up. “That would be amazing, Dad,” Sonia quickly said, and Leslie agreed.

“Maybe some waffles later?” She asked, and Ben chuckled.

“Let’s see if you can keep the soup down first.”

~~

_One week later._

“Is this how we were last week?” Sonia asked as she watched Leslie tuck in the men of the Knope-Wyatt household into their big king-sized bed.

It didn’t take long for Ben, Stephen and Wesley to catch the flu. Despite Ben making sure that the whole house was disinfected after Leslie and Sonia getting ill. The men were now all snuggled up together on a Sunday afternoon after a bout of vomiting, runny noses and delirium. 

“Yep,” Leslie replied as she walked back to Sonia’s side and smiled. Ben was in the middle of the bed, a cold washcloth over his forehead, and Wesley and Stephen were on either side of him, cuddled into his chest and Stephen had a hold of the sleeve of Wesley’s pyjama shirt as a comforting touch.

“They do look pretty cute like that," Sonia admitted as Leslie wrapped her arm around her.

“They haven’t cuddled like that since they were younger,” Leslie said, refusing to take her eyes off the sight in front of her.

She only turned away when she heard the sound of Sonia snapping photos on her phone.

“Oh good idea. That can go in our February scrapbook,” Leslie said happily.

Sonia frowned. “Oh. Well I was going to use this to blackmail Stephen and Wes… But sure, you can have a copy too.”

Leslie rolled her eyes and pulled Sonia into a hug. “Come on, Sonny. We’ve got grandma’s chicken soup to make for them.”


	15. It’s not a double date. We’re just third and fourth wheeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonia helps Wesley with a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt sent in on tumblr.

_2029_

“Well, I never thought I would be going on a double date with my sister,” Wesley sighed as he sat down at the JJ’s Diner booth across from Sonia.

“It’s not a double date,” Sonia hissed. “We’re just third and fourth wheeling. Anyway, it was the only way you could ask out Jeremy and not freak out.”

Wesley sighed again. Sure he had been trying to build up the confidence of asking out that cute boy in his algebra class for what felt like an eternity, and when he finally did, he panicked and told him it would be a group hang with his sister and Oliver Perkins-Traeger.

Sonia signalled the waitress and ordered two glasses of Pepsi while Wesley fiddled with the paper napkins.

“Hey, will you relax? It’ll be fine. I’ve got it all planned out,” Sonia told him.

“Why does that sentence not make me feel better?” Wesley groaned

“When Jeremy arrives,” Sonia continued, “We will act all friendly, and you’ll crack some jokes that me and Oliver will find hilarious, and I’m sure he will too. Then when the timing is right, we’ll slink off and leave you two to make out until your little gay heart is content.”

“I’m not gay, I’m bi-sexu –”

“My point is that if you just stay calm and do exactly what we practised then he will be head over heels with you by the time curfew hits,” Sonia explained.

Wesley took a deep breath in and nodded. “Alright…okay. I can do this. It’s going to be fine.”

“Hey, you two.”

Wesley and Sonia looked up to see Oliver walking towards their table. Wesley cheerily waved him over and then looked at Sonia and gawped. She was flashing her most dazzling smile and twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

Wesley swung his leg under the table and kicked her shin, causing Sonia to jolt and glare daggers at Wesley.

“I thought this wasn’t a double date?”

“Shut _up_ , moron.”


	16. They'll Always Need Mommy and Daddy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Ben and Sonia fluff.

_2044_

Ben wasn’t sure what happened. One day he was a 40-year-old man, looking after three beautiful tiny babies and the next he had a head full of grey hair, wrinkles all over his face and his joints constantly ached.

He didn’t mind the ageing part. That was fine. It wasn’t like he and Leslie were slowing down any time soon. She was about to start her second term as President. It kept them both occupied and they still worked hard.

But days like this made him feel old. When his children would come round for a family dinner and game night. He looked at his children, remembering how there used to be a time when he could fit all three of them on his lap at once… but now.

Wesley married his partner, Andrea, four months ago. Stephen was talking about moving to Seattle with his wife, Naomi, for work. And Sonia…

Sonia was pregnant with their first grandchild.

It still hadn’t sunk in. The day stuck in his mind clearly when she called Leslie in the White House and asked for ‘an official meeting’ and told them both. They had all cried in happiness and Leslie and Ben hugged and kissed Sonia for hours after. 

He could hear laughter coming from down the hall, and he couldn’t help but grin. Everyone sounded so happy, and as long as they were happy then he was too.

He was in the kitchen, refilling the glasses of wine. They had staff around the White House but they had given them the night off. Neither Leslie or Ben minded, they liked the nights when it was just them and their family and not being called ‘madam or sir.’

The door to the kitchen opened and Ben looked up as Sonia walked in, she gave Ben a soft smile and opened the refrigerator door, peering inside, a hand rubbing her expanded belly absentmindedly. 

“What do you want, honey?” Ben asked. “I can bring you anything you need.”

“Just water’s fine,” Sonia said as she pulled a bottle from the refrigerator.

Ben’s eyes travelled to Sonia’s rounded tummy. In a month’s time he would meet his granddaughter, and Sonia would be a mother. Her husband, Nathan, was in the lounge with the others. He was everything he’d hoped for when Sonia bought him home to meet the family eight long years ago. And Ben was sure that he would make a great father too.

Ben then looked up and noted Sonia’s face. The bags under her eyes, the tears glistening around her green orbs. He knew that look. 

“Sonny, are you okay?” Ben asked, taking a step towards his daughter.

“I’m fine, “Sonia quickly responded. Ben knew that tone too. It was the same tone Leslie used to use on him when she was pregnant. ‘I’m fine, Ben. I feel great’ she’d say, but she wasn’t. Ben could see through her just like he could see through Sonia right now.

“You look like you’re about to cry,” Ben said. “It’s okay, tell me what’s wrong?”

Sonia’s lower lip wobbled and she sniffed. Ben couldn’t hold back any longer and pulled her into a warm hug, rubbing her back sweetly.

“I’m just so tired, Daddy.”

Ben’s heart panged with sadness. She hadn’t called him ‘Daddy’ for years. She only did it when she was overly tired or upset. And Ben could only assume she was a combination of both.

“It’s okay,” Ben soothed. “It’s hard. I know it is. Do you want to lie down?”

He felt Sonia nod against him, and he pulled her away. Taking her hand, he led her up the staircase and into his and Leslie’s bedroom.

Sonia wiped her eyes as Ben pulled back the covers, he handed her an old shirt of his and a pair of pyjama bottoms that belonged to Leslie and Sonia went into the en suite to change.

A few minutes later, Ben helped Sonia climb into the bed and he wrapped the covers around her. He kissed her head softly and crouched down to her level.

“I love you, Sonia. You’re doing so well. Remember that,” he told her, and Sonia nodded.

“I love you too, Daddy,” she whispered sleepily and closed her eyes, soothed to sleep by Ben stroking the top of her head.

Ben couldn’t help but feel tears in his own eyes. No matter how old his babies would get, they would always need their parents. It didn’t matter that they were having kids of their own. It made Ben feel loved that Sonia had confided in him that she wasn’t feeling okay.

About ten minutes later he finally found the courage to leave Sonia in peace. She hadn’t stirred at all, and Ben thought it would be best to leave her to get the sleep she so desperately needed.

As he made his way back down the stairs he was met by Leslie coming up to find them.

“Hey. Where have you been? We’re going to play charades,” Leslie said. “And have you seen Sonia?”

“She’s asleep upstairs,” Ben said.

“Is she okay?” Leslie asked frantically.

“Ssh, babe. She’s fine. She’s just a little tired and needs a lie down. It’s not easy, you know that,” Ben explained.

Leslie looked back up the stairs and gnawed at her bottom lip. “Are you sure she’s alright? I should go and see her.”

“Later,” Ben said, taking Leslie’s hand and leading her back downstairs. “She needs some sleep right now.”

Leslie sighed and leaned against Ben’s shoulder as they got to the bottom step. “I still can’t believe she’s pregnant.”

“I know.”

“Our babies are all grown up,” Leslie mumbled. “They won’t need us anymore soon.”

Ben grinned. “I wouldn’t be so sure. They’ll always need their Mommy and Daddy.”


	17. Crashing Daddy's Interview.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonia becomes the star of Ben's campaign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "C'mere, you can sit in my lap until I'm done working," which was sent in by Supervanillabear31.
> 
> Based on that amazing Professor Robert Kelly interview where his kids walk in.

“One of the main things that I want to come out strong during this campaign is education,” Ben announced to the camera attached to his computer. “I’ve worked hard to establish good schooling around Pawnee and once elected my move will be to spread that to a wider region.”

It was a typical day in the Knope-Wyatt household. The only difference was now that Ben was running for Congress he found himself doing more and more impromptu interviews, most of the times in his home office through a webcam.

Leslie was at work today, and Roz had come by to wrangle their three-year-old monsters while Ben gave his interview. All seemed to be going well so far and he answered all questions that the newscaster gave him with ease, until…

“DADDY!” A voice screamed loudly, and Ben winced. It sounded like Sonia had gotten bored of Roz and her brothers and made a break for it, making her way to Ben’s office.

Ben tried to ignore it and carry on with the interview. But then he heard the door creak open and he turned just in time to see a blonde blur bolt into the room.

“Sorry, it’s my daughter,” Ben said bashfully into the camera as Sonia raced to his side.

“Sonny, Daddy’s working at the moment, can you please go back to Roz?” he asked as kindly as he could. But his heart thumped when he saw Sonia’s tiny bottom lip start to wobble and he knew he was about three seconds away from a screaming tantrum.

“Okay, okay,” Ben quickly said and tucked his arms under Sonia’s armpits. “C’mere. You can sit on my lap until I’m done working. But you have to be quiet.”

He pulled Sonia onto his lap with ease, and she settled down instantly, playing with the pens on Ben’s desk and scribbling on a document.

“Sorry about this,” Ben said again to the interviewer, who quickly waved him off, telling him not to worry and getting back to her questions.

~~

“You’re currently polling in first place,” Leslie said excitedly. “That’s amazing. You jumped from third to first in no time at all.”

“And we have this little lady to thank,” Ben grinned as he rubbed the top of Sonia’s hair, who was once again on his lap and fast asleep against him.

After the interview went out on TV, Ben became a viral hit. People were gushing about how adorable it was that he let Sonia come in and sit on his lap during an interview. One of his problems during the campaign was that he wasn’t seen as a typical family man, and was too cold and callous to be caring. But this interview demolished those thoughts, and people were now putting their trust in Ben.

Leslie put down her Gryzzl tablet and sat down next to Ben, leaning on his shoulder and stroking Sonia’s back.

“Good job, Sonny,” she whispered to her sleeping daughter. “She’d make a great campaign manager one day.”

“She’s got some good tricks up her sleeve, that’s for sure,” Ben agreed.


	18. "I don't want to get over her, I want to be with her"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen gets his heart broken and Ben's there to help his son recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by anon on tumblr.

“Where’s your brother?” Leslie asked as only two of the three triplets came down the stairs after she had announced dinner was ready. Stephen was still yet to make an appearance. 

Wesley and Sonia exchanged nervous looks. “He’s upstairs,” Sonia finally responded.

Leslie frowned as she placed a bowl of spaghetti next to the sauce. “Well what’s wrong with him? Usually he’s the first down for dinner.”

“He doesn’t want us to tell you,” Wesley explained. “He’s embarrassed.”

“Wesley, stop beating around the bush,” Ben said sternly. “You need to tell us what’s happened so that we can try and help.”

Sonia looked at Wesley and gave him a nod. He sighed. “Stephen broke up with his girlfriend today.”

Leslie and Ben gawped at each other. “Stephen had a girlfriend?”

“Yeah. But she broke up with him to go out with a tenth grader,” Sonia explained. “I told him that Vanessa was a terrible human, but he didn’t listen to me.”

“Is he ok?” Leslie asked, looking from Ben to the stairs, and then back to Ben.

“He’s upset,” Wesley sighed. “He just buried himself under his covers and wouldn’t come out.”

Ben stood up. “You guys start eating. I’m going to talk to him.”

As he passed, he gave Leslie a reassuring pat on her shoulder, letting her know that he’d take care of it. He climbed the stairs and got to Stephen’s closed door, he hesitated for a brief second, but finally knocked twice.

“Stephen? Can I come in?”

Ben pressed his ear to the door waiting for a response. Sure enough, he heard a quiet ‘if you must.’

He opened the door and saw Stephen sat at the head of his bed, knees hugged to his chest, the drapes closed and the lights shut off.

Ben took a seat next to him and patted his knee. “Don’t be mad, but Sonia and Wesley ratted you out.”

Stephen didn’t respond, so Ben continued. “We didn’t know you had a girlfriend. Why did you keep that from us? We would have been happy for you.”

“There was no point in telling you since she broke up with me,” Stephen mumbled.

Ben gave Stephen a sympathetic lop-sided smile. “I heard. But that’s ok; you’re in the eighth grade. If she wants to run off with a high school boy then let her, I’m sure her parents will put a stop to that soon.”

Stephen hugged his knees tighter to his chest and sniffed, Ben swallowed. “My point is that there’s plenty more fish in the sea, and you’re still young. You’ll find the perfect girl soon enough, I promise. But it’s time to move on and get over her.”

“But I don’t want to get over her,” Stephen snapped, kicking his legs out. “I want to be with her.”

His face was flushed and tears brimmed in his eyes. Ben just kept his hand steady on Stephen’s knee and squeezed it comfortingly. “I know it hurts right now, but it’ll be ok. You will move on and things’ll get better.”

“I’m going to be the laughing stock of the school,” Stephen moaned. “I’m not man enough to keep hold of a girlfriend.”

“You know,” Ben said, “Your mom has a ton of stories of when men broke up with her. Someone once begged her never to call them again. Trust me, a girl deciding she wants to go out with someone older is not embarrassing at all. Heck, it happened to me. My junior prom Cindy Eckert turned me down to go with a college boy instead, it happens. But you’re a catch, Stephen. You’re funny, charming, any girl would be lucky to have you.”

Stephen sniffed again and rubbed his nose on the back of his hand. “How did you get over Cindy, Dad?”

Ben grinned. “It took a while, but I soon realised that having a girlfriend wasn’t on my agenda right now, I mean at this point I was kind of head first into Ice Town so that distracted me.”

He moved his hand up to Stephen’s shoulder. “You’ll find someone, just like how I found your mother, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Stephen mumbled a ‘gross’ but still wrapped his arms around Ben, hugging him tightly. “Thanks, Dad.”

Ben smiled sadly and rubbed his back. “It’s okay, we’re in heartbreak hotel tonight but tomorrow you put this behind you. You’ll go to school. Probably get a detention because that’s what you do, and move on.”

He felt Stephen nod next to him and let go of him. “What do you say about going to get some dinner?” Ben asked, “We all want you to join us. We won’t talk about it at all, promise.”

“I’m not hungry,” Stephen said, right on cue his stomach rumbled loudly. “Okay, I’m a little hungry, but I could smell mom’s cooking from up here, can you blame me?”

Ben chuckled and stood up. “Come on, let’s get some before your brother and sister eat it all.”

“Are you sure that Sonia and Wesley won’t make fun of me?” Stephen asked shyly as they walked down the stairs.

“Don’t worry about them, if they do I’ll tell them to cut it out. It’ll be mean if they did, though,” Ben explained. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they could hear laughing coming from the dining room and Stephen groaned.

“I’m telling you,” Leslie said “cookies and cream is the best ice cream flavour. And I’m a little ashamed that you both like fruit flavours.”

Sonia and Wesley both snorted. “There’s nothing wrong with strawberry ice cream, Mom,” Wesley said as he spiralled spaghetti around on his fork.

“Well you know what this means?” Sonia chimed in. “We’re going to have to go get ice cream after dinner to sort out this argument.”

“Great idea!” Leslie said, she looked up and saw Ben and Stephen walking back into the room.

“What do you two think? Ice cream after dinner?” Leslie asked as they both sat down.

“Yeah that sounds great, Mom,” Stephen smiled happily.

Leslie grinned. “Alright, but you have to eat your dinner first. No dinner, no ice cream, mister.”

Stephen eagerly picked up the remainder of the pasta and poured it onto his plate and tucked in. Ben sat back down next to Leslie and she gave him a look, wondering how it went.

Ben just squeezed her knee and winked at her, before starting on his own plate.


	19. Party Animals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonia, Wesley and Stephen go to a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompts - "Did you enjoy yourself last night?," "Why are you covered in mud?," "The way you flirt is just shameful," "I'm not leaving here without you," and "You're so drunk." sent in by Supervanillabear31

“There she is,” Ben said as Sonia came trudging down the stairs. “I was beginning to wonder what happened to you guys.”

“Oh, you know, just super tired from the party,” Sonia mumbled, taking a seat at the breakfast bar and grabbing her Gryzzl tablet.

“Did you enjoy yourself last night?” Leslie asked, sitting opposite her daughter, a fresh cup of coffee in her hands.

“Uh…yeah it was good fun. Y’know, usual party stuff. Mmhmm, nothing happened out of the ordinary. Just dancing and responsible fun.” Sonia babbled.

Leslie raised an eyebrow and looked at Ben, who was mimicking her expression.

The thing about Sonia was that she was a terrible liar, a trait she inherited from both of her parents. Leslie and Ben were able to sniff out a lie in an instant, leaving Sonia unable to get away with anything.

And the fact that their three children went out to a party last night made them nervous.

“Is everything okay, Sonny?” Ben asked, standing by Leslie’s side.

Sonia frantically nodded. “Yep. Everything’s A-OK, coolio beans.”

Ben frowned and leaned down on the table. “Sonia, what are you hiding. What’s happened?”

Sonia looked down at her hands, desperately trying not to make eye contact with her parents.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Sonia,” Leslie said with a warning tone.

“Fine! Okay, alright you wormed it out of me!” Sonia snapped, blonde hair whipping around her face as she spoke. She let out a weary sigh and set her tablet back down on the table.

“I’ve been sent down as a distraction.”

“A distraction?” Leslie questioned. “From what?”

Sonia sighed. “Stephen got super drunk last night. He’s upstairs throwing up.”

Ben and Leslie exchanged horrified glances, and then Ben hurried up the stairs to check on their sons, while Leslie got up to Sonia’s side.

“Did you drink?” Leslie asked sternly.

“A little yeah,” her sixteen year old daughter responded. “But I didn’t want to get sloppy, neither did Wes… and we kind of dropped the ball on Stephen.”

Leslie sighed, placing a hand over her forehead. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All three of her children were out drinking last night, and now one of them was throwing their guts up. 

“Oh my god, Sonia. What were you thinking?” Leslie asked, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, opening it and practically forcing it down Sonia’s throat.

“Mm!! Mom stop!” Sonia choked, snatching the bottle from Leslie and putting it on the countertop. “I’m fine. I had like a couple vodkas. Stephen’s the one you should be worried about.”

“Your Dad has that covered. What we need are cold compresses and greasy food and water, so much water,” Leslie babbled to herself.

“Oh. And you are grounded. Don’t forget that.”

Sonia groaned and flopped over on the counter.

~~

“Boys. Open up,” Ben called, hammering on the locked bathroom door.

“No. I’m pooping!” 

“Wesley!”

“Urgh fine,” Wesley groaned through the door, and Ben heard the door unlock, and he soon came face to face with an embarrassed Wesley.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” he asked, leaning against the door frame.

Ben looked past Wesley and saw his eldest son, slumped on the floor over the toilet seat, looking miserable.

“Good lord, Stephen,” Ben sighed. “What the hell did you do?”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Stephen wailed and dry heaved into the toilet. “I thought it would be fun.”

“Yeah?” Ben snapped, folding his arms. “How much fun are you having right now?”

“None,” Stephen whimpered, hanging his head back into the toilet and spewing more of his guts out.

Ben groaned, rubbing a hand through his hair. “Great. What the hell were you thinking? All of you?”

“Someone at the party had a fake ID so hit up a load of stores and just got a load of alcohol. I was being careful, because you and Mom can sniff out alcohol like bloodhounds, but Stephen…” Wesley just gestured at Stephen, who was still sprawled out on the floor.

“Fantastic,” Ben hissed sarcastically. He got down onto the floor and rubbed Stephen’s back until he had finished. “You need water and to sleep this off.”

Stephen nodded pathetically, and with the help of Wesley, they dragged Stephen back into his room. Soon, a bottle of water was placed by his bedside, a bucket by his side. 

As Ben and Wesley left Stephen in peace, he finally took in his son’s appearance. Wesley was covered from head to toe in mud.

“Wesley, why are you covered in mud?”

Wesley blushed and rubbed at his dirt covered cheeks. “It’s a long story. Can you just ground me and be over with it?”

Ben just sighed. “Fine. All of you are ground for a month-”

“A _month_?”

“For underage drinking without our consent,” Ben continued. “No Gryzzl gadgets, weekends you’ll spend helping us around the house, and certainly no parties.”

Wesley sighed as his father walked past him. The night before a regret that the Knope-Wyatt triplets would have all the way during the next painful month.

~~

_8 hours earlier._

Wesley finished his drink and placed it on the side. He was fading in and out of a conversation, until Sonia caught his eye.

His sister was giggling eccentrically and stroking a boy’s arm. Wesley recognised it as George from his biology class, and Sonia was flirting with him.

Oh, he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was gay. And they had made out before.

He looked at his watch and swallowed. Shit. They should have been home three hours ago. He really hoped that their parents had fallen asleep in front of the TV again, and they would be able to sneak back undetected.

Wesley quickly excused himself from his friends and went to retrieve his siblings. He crossed the room and tugged on Sonia’s arm.

“Soso, we have to go, it’s way past curfew,” Wesley hissed in her ear. Sonia’s eyes travelled to the clock in the darkened room, and gasped. 

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Where’s Stephen?” Sonia asked, then she remember George. “Oh George, I’m so sorry but we have to go. But don’t forget me, okay?”

“I can’t forget you,” George replied. “I mean we sit next to each other in History.”

Sonia threw her head back again and laughed loudly. “Oh, George! You’re so funny.” 

“And you’re an embarrassment!” Wesley hissed at her, dragging her away. “Jesus, Sonia. The way you flirt is shameful.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that he was digging me,” Sonia retaliated. 

“He wasn’t. Because he’s very, _very_ gay.”

“What?” Sonia cried out in shock. “No, he’s not! Are you sure? How do you know?”

“Because we’ve made out,” Wesley explained. “A lot.”

Sonia looked horrified. “Oh my god. My gaydar must be way off course. Why didn’t your stupid bi self stop me sooner?”

“I only just noticed,” Wesley said, trying to look over a crowd to find Stephen. “I can’t see him anywhere, can you?”

Sonia scanned the room and froze. She nervously tapped Wesley on the shoulder so that he turned around. “I found him.”

Sure enough, there was Stephen. Standing upside down and a funnel in his mouth, while their classmates poured beer into his mouth while cheering raucously. The beer was soon emptied, and Stephen was helped back onto his feet, yelling proudly at the top of his throat.

“Jesus Christ, Stephen!” Sonia cried out, hurrying over once Stephen had finished. “We weren’t supposed to get wasted tonight!”

“Soniaaaa,” Stephen slurred. “Whass going on big sis?”

Sonia rolled her eyes and staggered forward to support Stephen. “We have to go,” she told him, and beckoned at Wesley to help her.

“Wha? No we can’t go, we’re having fun!” Stephen cried out, earning another loud cry from his friends.

“Come on, Stephen!” Sonia snapped. “We’re going. And I’m not leaving here without you.”

Soon, they had managed to drag Stephen outside and into the fresh air. That’s when Stephen started rebelling and shrieking angrily about how he didn’t want to go home. 

“Jesus, Stephen. You’re so drunk,” Wesley hissed, trying to keep a grip on his twin.

“And your fucking annoying! Get off me!” Stephen cried, managing to give Wesley a shove. Wesley tumbled backwards, right into a dirty puddle on the side of the road.

“You moron!” Sonia screeched, letting go of Stephen and helping Wesley up. “Can we just get you home without any more instances, please?”

Wesley grabbed hold of Stephen again, his clothes dripping with muddy water, and Sonia manned his other side. Soon, the triplets were walking home down the dark street, an inebriated Stephen between them.

“I’m sorry I pushed you, Wes,” Stephen choked out after a few minutes.

Wesley sighed. “I’m sorry you’re an ass.”

Stephen then promptly burst into tears, wrapping his arms around Wesley’s neck and kissing his cheek. “I love you, baby brother. I love you so much.”

Wesley sent Sonia a look of distress, but still patted his back. “Oh, buddy. Let it out, I guess?”

Sonia rolled her eyes. “Come on you two. Let’s get out of here.”

And the triplets trudged back down the road, hoping that their parents would be asleep by the time they got home.


	20. Broken Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley has to stay behind, thanks to a broken ankle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something I wrote whilst being impatient and waiting for my dinner to cook.

“How’s Pawnee? Anything exciting happening over there?” Ben asked, holding his Gryzzl pad up.

“Not really, same old,” Sonia replied, resting her head into her spare hand. “There was another explosion at the Sweetums factory apparently, now there’s caramel coming out of some of the drains by the old warehouse district.”

Ben grimaced. He was so glad that they had fired him all those years ago. 

“But we’re going to JJ’s for dinner,” Sonia said, grinning at her father. “It’s not the same though without you guys.”

“I know, but we’ll be together again soon, there’ll be plenty of JJ’s,” Ben said.

There was a commotion behind Sonia, and Ben grinned as he saw Stephen come clambering behind her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into a rough hug.

“Hey, Dad!” Stephen said into the tablet.

“Hey, buddy, how’s things?”

“All good here, where’s Tiny Tim?”

“Don’t call me that!” Ben heard a voice from the kitchen, he turned around and saw Wesley slowly walking towards him, balancing unevenly on his crutches.

Ben wanted to get up and help him over to the couch, but he couldn’t. He knew that Wesley wanted to get used to his crutches after a nasty slip on some ice outside, which resulted in a broken ankle. He wouldn’t need them for too long, but it also meant while Sonia and Stephen went with Leslie while she was on the campaign trail for her second term as Governor of Indiana, Wesley had to stay behind. Ben, of course, stayed behind, but he missed his wife and two other children.

“Hey, Wes! Come on! You’re a modern day Tiny Tim! It’s a shame it’s February, it would’ve made a great Christmas card,” Stephen said, grinning into the camera.

“You suck,” Wesley hissed, slumping down next to Ben.

“Alright, enough” Ben said, calming down his children. “Wesley is doing really well, you’re getting used to your crutches, aren’t you, pal?”

“I guess,” Wesley mumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose and pouting.

“Well, we miss you, Wes,” Sonia said. “It’s not the same without you, we’re the Three Musketeers on the campaign trail.”

Wesley smiled at that. “I miss you all too.”

“You guys should go,” Ben said, looking at his watch. “We’re going to make dinner. Enjoy JJ’s, and tell your mom that I’ll call her later tonight.”

Stephen winced. “Fine, but can you not stay up all night this time around? Mom kept us up last night laughing, whatever you said or did, it was gross and don’t do it again.”

Ben blushed. For most of last night he and Leslie were roleplaying as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan on a conference call. It had been a while since they’d done that, the last time being when Ron had overheard. Maybe Thatcher and Reagan wasn’t a good idea anymore.

“Ok, ok, have fun at JJ’s! I love you both!” Ben called, before shutting off his tablet and turning to Wesley.

“Ok, so your mom is taking Sonia and Stephen to JJ’s, how about we order in some calzones?” Ben suggested.

Wesley sniffed. “Fine, I guess.”

Ben, noticing the quietness in his son, quickly sidled closer to him. “Hey, come on, don’t be so glum, chum. Broken bones happen. Two more weeks and you’ll be back in one piece.”

“I know, it just sucks. Sonia and Stephen never have these problems. Sonia never has broken bones, and Stephen never needs to have eye appointments every three months. It’s just crap.”

His eyes widened a little and shied away from Ben. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“It’s ok,” Ben said, wrapping an arm around his youngest. “You’re frustrated I get that, I’m giving you that one for free, but you aren’t allowed to say that word again. Besides, Stephen once broke his nose, remember?”

Wesley sniggered. “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Soon, they were both chuckling at the memory of eight-year-old Stephen sliding around the newly cleaned floor in his socks, after Leslie asked him to stop. Of course, Stephen didn’t listen, and ended up stumbling face first into the staircase. That resulted in Stephen having a couple stitches and forced to wear a hideous bandage on his nose for two weeks. 

“And you’d be too young to remember this, but Sonia shoved three crayons up her nose when she was two. We had to take her to the emergency room,” Ben said, grinning at that memory. “See, you’re not the only one. You were a really careful child, let yourself have this one accident, ok?”

Wesley nodded. “Ok, Dad. Thanks.”

“It’s ok, now,” he said as he stood up. “Do you think we should just order one large calzone, or two? I mean, they aren’t going to be back from Pawnee until Sunday. That means we’ve got two days of getting our fill of calzones.”

“Get two,” Wesley nodded. “Then we can have some for breakfast tomorrow.”

Ben grinned and clicked his fingers. “And that’s why you’re the smartest triplet…I didn’t say that, pretend that never happened.”

Wesley snorted, and with the help of his crutches, hobbled into the kitchen after Ben.


	21. Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I kill off Leslie and Ben. My bad!

“You know two of us were an accident,” Stephen said, sitting down in the old porch chair.

Wesley looked up. “What?”

“Think about it, they never planned to have triplets, no parents do. You plan to have one baby and then, surprise, two more come along,” Stephen explained.

Sonia scoffed. “Well, since I’m the oldest, that leaves you two as the accidents.”

“She has a point,” Wesley mumbled, pushing his glasses back up.

Stephen chuckled, then remembered. Laughing still felt weird.

Sonia scowled. “I don’t want to listen to that song, skip the track?”

Wesley nodded in agreement, using his hand to swipe on his Gryzzl tablet. Soon, the sounds of ‘Everybody Hurts’ stopped, and were replaced by ‘New Orleans Instrumental No.1.’

“Better,” Sonia said, leaning back in her own chair.

She looked at Wesley. “You’re losing your hair.”

Wesley smirked. “I know. And you’re going grey.”

Sonia nodded. “I know. When did we get old?”

Wesley bit the inside of his cheek. “It happens. Everyone gets old.”

“And everyone dies,” Stephen sighed.

Wesley took a deep breath in and slowly nodded. He looked back out to the bonfire they had created, still flaring strong in the light of dusk.

They were here to clean out their old childhood home, a bittersweet task, because it meant finally having to let go and move on.

But they’d never move on, not really.

Ben had passed away three months ago at the age of 87. It was a bad case of pneumonia that got him, his old body couldn’t take it, and he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Leslie was 86, two months after Ben’s death, she suffered a stroke, she never recovered from it, and soon, her own time came too.

And now, the Knope-Wyatt triplets were left parentless. Despite being almost 50, they still found it weird. Their parents had been there for everything, their individual weddings, the birth of their children. The fact that they wouldn’t be around anymore hurt deeply.

So, as they cleaned out the house, they kept everything that mattered. Although they soon found out that Leslie never quit her hoarding tendencies, and in a secluded cupboard were newspapers, magazines, and stacks of records of when she or Ben or the triplets had been in the papers. It looked like every time one of them were featured, she went out and bought as many copies as she could.

Sonia, Stephen and Wesley all had copies of the important stuff, so with the duplicates, they had decided to start a bonfire in the garden, burning the last of the papers and reminiscing about everything.

They had come alone. No spouses, no children, just them. It only seemed right.

“I wish we had something to drink,” Sonia mumbled. “I could do with some alcohol right about now.”

Stephen sat up quickly. “I saw something when we were cleaning out one of Mom’s cabinets. Hang on.”

He disappeared back inside for a brief moment, and soon came out holding a dusty bottle of Lagavulin.

“There’s a note on it,” Stephen said, rubbing a small section of the dust off and squinting.

_‘Leslie, I want you to open this when the time is right, you’ll know when that is, have one last drink on me,’_ Stephen read out loud. He swallowed hard. “Uncle Ron must’ve given this to her before he died.”

Sonia leaned forward, looking at the bottle. “That was maybe ten years ago. Do you think it’s ok to drink?”

“It’s never been opened,” Stephen said, pulling the top off. “Don’t worry, Mom, we’ve got you covered.”

They found three small glasses and Stephen poured them both generous amounts. Then, he grabbed a photo frame, one with a picture of Leslie and Ben on their wedding day and set it in front of them. He held his glass towards the frame.

“To Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt,” he spoke loudly, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “The best damn parents anyone could ever have.”

Sonia and Wesley silently nodded and they all clinked their glasses together, each taking a hearty sip. Suddenly, Wesley started coughing and spluttering. He stuck his tongue out and a glob of saliva poured out onto the ground.

“I never liked whiskey,” Wesley said, and Stephen and Sonia started laughing.

“You looked just like Dad,” Stephen said through his laughter. 

Soon, his laughter subsided, and was replaced by tears. Sonia quickly reached out, rubbing his shoulder.

“Fuck, I’m going to miss them,” Stephen said, wiping his eyes and taking another sip. He looked back down at the photo frame and sighed.

“I’ve got a copy of that photo back at home. One of you can take that one,” Stephen said, gesturing to it.

“You can take it,” Wesley quickly said to Sonia. “I have one too.”

“But I have one,” Sonia said. “It’s another spare. I’m pretty sure everyone else has this photo too.”

She looked at her brothers. “What should we do with this?”

Wesley was about to shrug his shoulders, when he looked back out at the fire. He pursed his lips.

“I have an idea,” he said. He set the glass back down on the grass and carefully lifted the photo frame up. With trembling fingers, he pulled the photo from the frame.

Sonia and Stephen caught on, and silent gave a nod of permission. Slowly, Wesley edged towards the burning fire, and dropped the photo into the centre of it.

The photo crinkled at the edges as it caught fire, and started to turn to ash.

“It just felt right,” Wesley said with a sniff. Stephen and Sonia both rose from their chairs and stood next to Wesley. Sonia rested her head on Wesley’s shoulder, and Stephen clung her hand, kissing her forehead.

“Goodbye,” Sonia whispered, as they watched the remnants of the photos, now ash and soot, float gently in the wind, and slowly drift up towards the sky…


	22. The Brother Speech

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonia and her brothers on her wedding day.

“Alright, nearly time to throw your life away,” Stephen said, clapping his hands together and walking towards Sonia.

“SoSo, you look beautiful,” Wesley said, taking in her appearance.

Sonia looked up and smiled. She was wearing a pristine white wedding dress that hung off her shoulders. Her arms were covered with laced sleeves and a veil tucked in her elegant bun.

“What are you guys doing here?” Sonia asked, brushing invisible lint from her dress.

“We thought we’d come out and warn you that Dad’s going to be here any minute to walk you down the aisle and he’s most probably going to cry,” Wesley explained.

“He’s cried maybe three times this morning already,” Stephen said. “And Mom…well, I don’t think you’ll see her all day, she’s just been a wreck. She keeps crying about ‘how her baby’s all grown up’ and ‘how she couldn’t be prouder.’”

“So, everyone’s having a great time then?” Sonia said with a little grin. She knew her parents would be a wreck on her wedding day. Heck, the day she told them she was engaged they both wrapped her into a hug while they cried happy tears.

“On a serious note, we’re here to give you the brother speech,” Wesley said, sitting down on one of the velvet seats in Sonia’s dressing room.

“The brother speech?” Sonia raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you know the one where we have to tell you that if Nathan ever hurts you in any way then we’d kill him,” Stephen said, shrugging his shoulder like it was no big deal.

Sonia snickered. “Aren’t you supposed to give that speech to Nathan?”

“Yeah, we already did,” Stephen said. “But we thought we’d tell you that we’ve done our duties.”

“The point is,” Wesley said, standing up. “We’re so happy for you, and we can’t believe you’re the first one of us to get married. There was a point back there where we thought you’d be a lone wolf for the rest of your life.”

Sonia swatted at Wesley, who ducked.

“Plus, we really like Nathan, everyone in the family does,” Stephen said. “He’s a really good guy. And we’re just so happy for you.”

Sonia had three bridesmaids. One maid of honour. But right now, all she wanted were here two stupid younger brothers, trying to act all protective and tough. Them being here right now helped calm her nerves and bridal jitters.

She sniffed and carefully wiped a tear away from her eyes. “Come here you two.”

Stephen and Wesley both stood up and let Sonia pull them into a bone-crushing hug. The brothers both hugged back, allowing their sister to kiss both of their cheeks.

“I love you both, even though you are morons,” Sonia said, desperately trying to blink away tears.

“Love you too, So,” Stephen said back, and Wesley nodded in agreement.

“Even if you are a pain in the ass.”

Sonia tried to swat at Wesley for the second time, when there was a knock at the door. It opened and Ben walked in and paused for a moment, looking mesmerised by Sonia.

“Sonny, you look so beautiful,” Ben said, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” Wesley muttered into Sonia’s ear.


	23. Sleepless and Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sick Ben tries to get some rest, but his children all want to make sure he's ok.

“Alright monsters, come here I want to talk to you,” Leslie said, beckoning all three of her children towards her.

Sonia, Wesley and Stephen all barrelled towards their mother. Wesley instantly begged to climb up on her lap.

“Daddy’s not feeling so good today. He’s upstairs sleeping, so I’m going to need you all to be on your best behaviour. You can play quietly downstairs but you can’t go upstairs, ok?” Leslie said to the triplets.

“Daddy’s sick?” Stephen asked, titling his head to the left.

“Yeah, it’s only a cold, baby. Don’t worry. He just needs some sleep, and I’m going to make chicken noodle soup for dinner so that’ll help him feel better too,” Leslie said, ruffling Stephen’s hair.

Ben woke up that morning coughing and spluttering into his pillow, and all he wanted to do was just stay in bed, feeling sorry for himself. Leaving Leslie to try and keep her three five year olds occupied all day.

“Hey, how about this? Shall we go to the park? We can have a great time all day, and then when we get back you can all help me cook dinner for Daddy? How does that sound?”

Leslie got three excited nods in return. “Great! Ok, well let’s get our shoes and coats on and we’ll go.”

~~

Ben was lying under the duvet with his eyes closed, trying to beg his nose to unclog itself. He hated feeling sick full stop, but on the weekends was the worst. He loved sleeping in on the weekends, but there was a point where he wanted to get up and spend time with his family too.

“Daddy?”

Ben jolted at the sound. He looked to the side and saw Stephen standing by his bedside.

“Mommy said you were sick. So I bought you some tissues so you can blow your nose,” Stephen said, producing a long piece of toilet paper from behind his back.

Ben frowned a little, but still took the offering. “Thanks, buddy. This means a lot.”

Stephen hitched himself up so he was level with Ben’s face. “Mommy said not to tell you, but we’re making chicken soup for you later. It’s so you can feel better.”

Ben grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair. “That sounds great, I’m looking forward to it. Now, go and have fun at the park.”

Stephen smiled at his dad and climbed back off the bed, leaving Ben in peace again. He rolled back over into the pillows and coughed into the covers. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, hoping that he could drift off into an effortless sleep.

“Daddy?”

Ben groaned a little, but still opened his eyes again. This time it was Sonia at his bedside, clutching her stuffed rabbit in her arms.

“Hey Sonny,” Ben mumbled, and Sonia placed the rabbit next to Ben’s face.

“I want you to have Whiskers. He always makes me feel better. He has magical powers,” Sonia said happily.

Ben tugged the stuffed rabbit closer to him, making a mental note to put it in the wash so that Sonia wouldn’t catch his germs. “Thanks, honey. I’m sure he’ll help a lot.”

No, he wasn’t sure that this stuffed rabbit would help him get better at all. But it would help him feel a little less lonely.

Sonia placed her hands on the bed and stood up on tip-toes, she leaned in as far as she could and placed a wet kiss on Ben’s nose. 

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too Sonny-bug,” Ben said, and Sonia scurried back out of the room.

Ben had tissues and a stuffed rabbit, sure that was it now and he’d be able to go to sleep with ease.

“Daddy?”

Good lord, will this never end?

Ben groaned and turned over again to see Wesley standing at his bedside. He didn’t bring any presents like his siblings, in fact, he looked like he was about to cry.

“Wesley, are you ok?” Ben asked nasally, and Wesley sniffed.

“Are you going to die?”

Ben spluttered in surprise. “What? No, of course not. I’ve just got a cold. They happen all the time. I’m not going to die, I just need sleep and medicine, promise.”

Wesley didn’t look convinced. He clambered up and snuggled next to Ben. He was about to object that he didn’t want Wesley to get sick, but his little boy seemed so upset, he couldn’t send him away.

“I don’t want you to die,” Wesley whimpered.

Where on earth was he getting this from? Ben wrapped his arm around Wesley and kissed the top of his head. “I’m not going anywhere, Buddy.”

“There you are,” Leslie said as she walked into the room. “I thought I said Daddy needed sleep and that upstairs was off limits.”

Ben quickly gestured to Leslie that Wesley was upset, and she stopped. Carefully, she sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed Wesley’s back.

“What’s going on? What’s got you upset?” Leslie asked.

“I don’t want to go to the park, I want to stay with Daddy,” Wesley insisted, burying his face closer into Ben’s shoulder.

“He thinks I’m going to die,” Ben mouthed to Leslie, who looked horrified.

“Baby, Daddy needs to rest. I think it would be best if you went to the park with us,” Leslie said sweetly to her youngest, but he just shook his head and cuddled closer to Ben.

“I don’t mind if he stays with me,” Ben said.

“Are you sure?” Leslie asked. “But you’re not feeling good.”

“I know, but I’m not going to make him go if he doesn’t want to,” Ben said. He then nudged Wesley.

“You can stay here if you want. But I’m not going to be able to play with you. If you stay here, we sleep, ok?”

Wesley sat up at that, and looked back from Leslie to Ben.

“What do you say, Wes?” Leslie asked. “Would you like to stay here and nap with Daddy, or do you want to come to the park with us and get ice cream?”

Wesley gave Ben one last look, and jumped off the bed. “I don’t want to sleep, I want ice cream.”

Leslie and Ben exchanged glances. Wesley was their youngest and most sensitive, but when it came to sleep, he was just like Leslie and refused.

“Alright, go downstairs and put your shoes on, I’ll be there in a minute,” Leslie said, and Wesley shot out of the room.

“Parenting,” Ben sniggered, holding up his palm for Leslie to slap.

“We’ve got these suckers down,” Leslie agreed. She then got up and re-tucked Ben in.

“We won’t be long. Do you want anything before we go?” she asked, pushing back Ben’s floppy hair and feeling his forehead.

“No, I’m good,” Ben said, relishing in his wife’s touch. “But I could do with some ice cream later?”

Leslie cackled and rested her forehead against Ben’s. “Ice cream’s only for the healthy members of this household.”

She leaned in, kissing Ben softly, and he hummed in response.

“Hmmm, you’re strict,” he mumbled, eyes growing heavy.

He didn’t hear Leslie’s reply as he finally drifted off into a deep, well earned, sleep.


	24. Snow Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow days with the Knope-Wyatt family throughout the years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It snowed in London today and it was very exciting (even though it's all melted now) so I wrote this!

_2015_

“Do you think they like it?”

“I don’t know. Wesley looks pissed off.” 

“Language, Benjamin!”

“What? He does!” Ben said, looking down at Wesley. Sure enough, the 14 month old did look incredibly pissed off in his snowsuit. Clearly, the white falling snow flakes didn’t capture his attention as much as his siblings.

It started snowing heavily last night, and Leslie was adamant that she took the triplets out for their first ever snow day. Last year they were born just before Christmas and were premature. Neither Ben or Leslie wanted to risk their newborns outside in the snow, and kept them inside instead.

But now, the triplets were kind of walking and babbling excitedly at the snow. So, Leslie bundled them up in their snowsuits and took them outside in their garden. Right now, Leslie held on to Sonia and Stephen, keeping them steady as they examined the snow, and Ben held Wesley, who was not interested in getting down any time soon.

Sonia reached out and put a glove covered hand into the snow. She grimaced, and looked back up at Leslie.

“Is it cold, Sunny?” Leslie said to her daughter. Sonia just whimpered in response, trying to clear the snow off her hand. 

“Ok, maybe that’s enough snow for today,” Leslie said, noticing that Sonia was maybe two minutes away from a screaming fit. “We can go back inside and drink chocolate milk instead.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ben said.

They were about to turn back to go inside when Wesley started wailing and pointing back at the snow.

“Oh,” Ben said, trying to calm Wesley. “I was wrong, he did like it.”

“Wessy, it’s ok,” Leslie said, whilst trying to keep Sonia and Stephen from wandering off. “The snow isn’t going anywhere.”

That didn’t stop Wesley from crying. Ben looked back out at the weather and sighed.

“I can stay out with him for a little longer, he seems to be enjoying himself,” Ben said, pulling Wesley’s hat a little further down.

“Alright, I’ll get some coffee going for when you get back,” Leslie said, leaning in and kissing Ben quickly, so that he could get back outside and appease Wesley.

Sure enough, as soon as they stepped back outside, Wesley stopped crying, and fell silent as he looked at the snow.

“I know,” Ben said to his son. “This is my favourite time of year too.”

~~

_2018_

“He needs a nose,” Sonia said, staring at the snowman.

“That’s fine, we have carrots in the kitchen,” Leslie said, and she quickly hurried inside to grab the carrots. She came back with three in her hands and held them out.

“Which one do you think would make a good nose?” she asked the children. Each of them gathered around and thought.

“I like that one,” Wesley said, pointing at a slightly crooked carrot. “It looks like Daddy’s nose.”

Leslie stifled a giggle as the triplets agreed and picked the crooked carrot. Stephen took it and tried to put it on the snowman’s face.

“Mommy, I can’t reach,” Stephen mumbled. 

Leslie dropped the other two carrots in the snow and picked Stephen up so he could put the carrot in place. Soon, the snowman was complete and the triplets were happy with their creation.

“What are you going to call him?” Leslie asked.

“Snowy!” Sonia blurted out, and Wesley and Stephen nodded along.

“Snowy sound great,” Leslie said.

She turned when she heard a noise behind her. Ben had just returned from work and was starting dinner, he waved at his family through the window and started rooting around the kitchen.

“I think this is probably the best snowman ever,” Leslie told the triplets, who all beamed with pride.

She knew that she’d have to hold them while they cried after the snowman melted, but right now, it was all worth it.

“Honey,” she heard Ben call from the kitchen. “Where’s the carrots for dinner?”

Leslie smirked a little, and kicked snow over the two carrots on the ground.

“I have no idea.”

~~

_2021_

“How many snowballs do we have?” Stephen asked.

Wesley quickly totalled up the piles. “We have fifteen.”

“Do you think that’s enough?”

“I don’t know,” Sonia jumped in. “But I don’t want to go back other there. He might see us.”

The boys both agreed. They were all safe behind the barrier they had made of snow covered lawn chairs.

Stephen peered behind the barrier. “I can’t see him. Has he given up?”

“Do you think? Have we won?” Wesley said excitedly.

“Guess again!” Ben’s voice cried out as he towered above his children, holding a snowball in his hands.

“Attack!” Sonia screamed, and each triplet grabbed a snowball and started pelting them at Ben.

Ben yelped and tried to cover his face as his children threw all of their snowballs at him.

“Alright! I give! I surrender!” Ben cried out as one snowball hit him on the jaw.

The triplets cheered at their victory, and Ben rubbed his face, immediately regretting taking the kids to a batting cage last week.

Wesley, especially, had a pretty good aim.

~~

_2029_

“Sonia! Come here quick! It’s an emergency!”

Sonia opened the door to the backyard and folded her arms. “What kind of an emergency?”

Stephen looked desperately at her. “Come here, please, it’s urgent!”

“Oh really?” Sonia said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s urgent? Is the urgency Wesley hiding under that snow pile next to you?”

Stephen groaned, and the snow pile next to him moved, and Wesley sat up from it.

“How did you know?” Wesley asked, brushing snow off his face.

“I saw you two setting up earlier. Really guys, this is a terrible prank,” Sonia said.

“But it would have worked if you didn’t see us,” Stephen said. “And it would have been hilarious.”

Just then, Sonia heard footsteps in the kitchen. “Dad’s coming. Wesley, cover yourself back up!”

Wesley immediately lay back down in the snow, and Stephen rushed to cover him. A few moments later, Ben came up behind Sonia.

“The body in the snow trick again?” Ben asked her, and she nodded. 

“Please just go and pretend to be scared,” Sonia pleaded her dad, and Ben laughed. 

“I have a better idea, how about we go for hot chocolate instead?” Ben suggested, and Sonia nodded. 

“Sure!”

“Dad! Come here, it’s an emergency!” Stephen yelled from the garden. “I’m stuck!”

“That’s ok, Stephen,” Ben called back. “It’s going to start raining soon, that snow will ease up before you know it.”

He closed the yard door, leaving Stephen and Wesley alone in the garden, pleading to be let back inside.


	25. Patches and Solo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie and Ben adopt a dog and a cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An idea I've had for a while that also ties in with Star Wars Day. May the fourth be with you!

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ben asked nervously as he watched the five beagle puppies happily running around their pen. “I mean, we’re constantly out of the house, the triplets might be allergic-”

“Ben, we’ve thought through every possibility and it’ll be fine. We can get dog sitters when we’re out of town, and the triplets will love the puppy. They’ve been fine whenever we’ve taken them to April and Andy’s, and they love Champion,” Leslie said, leaning down to pet the nearest puppy. “Oh I think I have my heart set on this one, he’s adorable.”

Leslie had been casually talking to one of the mothers at the triplets school one morning when she told her that her dog was expecting puppies, and how it was a bit of a shock. She then offered Leslie one of the puppies, and she thought it would be great to have an family pet, especially with the triplet being five now, it would be good to teach them to be responsible.

The puppy barked playfully and licked Leslie’s open palm. “Ben, he’s perfect. The triplets are going to love him.”

Ben looked down at the puppy. Ok, he was pretty adorable. The puppy had big floppy ears and sparkling puppy dog eyes. 

He was pretty sure he was falling in love with the dog.

~~

“Kids, get down here, we have a surprise,” Leslie called as they walked back into their house. 

Ben was carefully holding the puppy in his arms, and the puppy was desperately trying to make a break for it, clearly not being a fan of being held. 

The triplets all hurried down the stairs. It didn’t take long for one of them to notice the squirming puppy in Ben’s arms. 

“Mommy!” Stephen squealed. “Is that a puppy? Is that _our_ puppy?”

Leslie barely got out a ‘yes’ when all three children were hurrying towards Ben and fawning over the puppy.

Ben carefully set it down on the floor, and the puppy bounded from each triplet, unsure which one to go to. The puppy barked and excitedly licked Sonia’s face when she got too close.

“Alright, guys. We need to decide on a name for this little guy,” Ben said, crouching down and rubbing the puppy on the head.

All five of them bounced names around. Sonia was adamant that she wanted the puppy to be called ‘Princess’, while Stephen kept chanting ‘Monster’ over and over again.

“I think he should be called Patches.”

Ben looked over to his youngest son, who’d been pretty quiet during the naming. “What was that, Wes?”

“Patches,” Wesley said again. “He’s got brown patches on his back, see? Patches would be a good name for him.”

Sonia wrinkled her nose up, and looked at the puppy. “Huh. I guess Patches works.”

“Stephen, are you happy with Patches?” Ben asked his eldest son.

Stephen scowled. “I want him to be called Monster.”

“I know, buddy. Maybe Monster can be his nickname. He’ll definitely be a trouble maker,” Ben said, playfully patting the dog’s back end.

“I like Patches too,” Leslie said happily. “And I think he’ll be a great addition to the family.

Patches barked in agreement.

~~

It had been three years since Leslie and Ben got Patches for the family, and having a dog was hard work, but amazingly rewarding.

Wesley always wanted to accompany Ben on the daily walks, which gave Ben and Wesley a chance to bond. Stephen would play with him in the garden and when he got tired, he’d snuggle up on Sonia’s bed with her. 

Ben couldn’t imagine life without him. And he was sure that the entire family felt the same.

He’d been working late one evening. Things were heating up in congress and he found himself spending more and more nights in the office. It was raining once he stepped outside onto the path. Ben tutted and put up his umbrella.

That’s when he heard the unmistakable sound of a meow.

At first he thought it was just the rain on the pavement, but nothing could mask the high pitched noise. He tried to ignore it, walking towards his care, when he heard it again, and again.

No, he couldn’t ignore this. He’d never forgive himself. Listening carefully, he followed the sounds of the meows until he came across a beaten-up cardboard box with a tiny, black and white kitten inside.

The kitten looked terrified and was meowing for help. Ben’s heart contorted. Someone must have abandoned this poor kitten, and it was scared.

“Hey, it’s ok, come here,” Ben said calmly, reaching out to stroke the kitten. At first, it backed away, but softened as Ben managed to rub it’s soaked fur.

Carefully, Ben lifted the kitten into his arms and tucked it under his coat to shelter it from the rain, then he sprinted back to his car, managing to text Leslie one-handed that he’d be late home.

~~

“So I guess we’ve got a cat now too?”

Ben smiled sheepishly at Leslie as she watched the triplets (and Patches) play with the small kitten. It seemed a little hesitant, and kept looking over at Ben, but was now playfully swatting at Patches’ nose. 

“The vet said she’s recovered well and is healthy. If we don’t take her they’ll take her to a shelter. She’s not chipped or anything, we could keep her if you wanted to?” Ben said to Leslie.

Leslie looked down at the kitten. She was black all over with the excepting of her back paws, which were white.

“She is really cute,” Leslie said. “And Patches seems to like her too.”

Leslie shrugged her shoulders. “Ah, why not. Plus it’ll be nice for Patches to have some extra company when we’re not at home.”

Ben grinned, then a thought slipped into his mind. “Now we have to go through the painful process of naming her.”

“Dad!” Stephen piped up. “It’s Star Wars Day! May the 4th. We should give her a Star Wars themed name.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea,” Ben said, walking over to his children. “What were you thinking?”

“Yoda.”

“No, we can’t call her Yoda,” Sonia cut in. “That’s so obvious. We should call her Chewie since she’s furry.”

“That’s even more obvious than mine!” 

“Well what about Leia?” Leslie asked. “Or Organa?”

She winked at Ben, clearly wanting to show off.

Suddenly, the kitten broke off into a run, sprinting out of the room and towards a chair in the hallway, where she settled down, tail curling around her body.

“Hey, come back,” Wesley said, standing up.

“No, leave her, buddy. She probably wants to be alone,” Ben said, stopping his son.

That’s when it came to him.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Ben said out loud. “When I found her, she was alone. Or _solo_ you could say.”

He turned to Leslie. “Do you see where I’m going with this.”

“No,” Leslie shook her head.

“Solo! We should call her Solo. It’s got a Star Wars angle and it fits her perfectly.

“I like it,” Stephen said. “Solo and Patches. The best pets ever.”

Ben smiled. “I agree.”

And later that evening, when everyone was in bed, Ben felt something press against his arm.

He looked down to see Solo curled up in the crook of his arm, purring softly. 

Ben smirked. “Welcome to the family, Solo. And may the force be with you.”


End file.
